WEEKLY REVIEW

MUCKAMORE CRICKET

After the pleasant but disappointing distraction of the Senior Cup semi final last

week, Muckamore travelled to Stormont to play CSNI on Saturday seeking a

win to start their fight back to stay in the Premier League. The CSNI captain

James Kennedy won the toss and sent M Ellison and A Johnston in to open their

batting innings against Muckamore pace bowlers Neil Gill and Aditya Adey.

The tight bowling restricted the run scoring and it reached 39 runs into the 11 th

over before Johnston edged a Gill delivery to be smartly caught by

wicketkeeper David Miller after scoring 28 runs. While batsman A Malan

joined Ellison, Pavan Karthik took over from Adey to bowl 6 very tight overs

for only 9 runs. The batsmen were only able to add another 30 runs in the next

11 overs until spin bowler Steve Lazars was brought on to add more pressure

and it worked when Ellison edged a delivery in his second over to be well

caught by slip fielder Francis Collins to end his 20 run innings. J Kennedy was

the new batsman and with Malan they struggled in the next 6 overs to add just

12 more runs before the former was clean bowled by Adey for a duck in the 28 th

over. Now on 81 runs for 3 wickets P Beverland came to the wicket to partner

Malan and they slowly but surely steadied the CSNI innings and despite

Muckamore captain Gill rotating his bowlers they took the score to 150 runs

into the 41 st over before the former’s miss hit shot was caught by ‘mid off’

fielder Fahad Iqubal to end his valuable back up 14 run innings. With less than

9 overs remaining M Topping now partnered Malan and the run chase was on,

not only for the latter to score his century but to score as many more runs as

possible. Malan swept to his hundred runs with ease as they had a go at the

Muckamore bowlers taking the score to 202 runs into the 49 th over before he

was finally bowled by the returning Gill to end his 119 run innings. With just 7

deliveries remaining the next batsman was C Goodall but he survived for just

one of them before he was bowled by Karthik. B Adair was the new batsman to

score a single run but he could only watch as Topping was bowled by Karthik

off his next delivery. A Cowden followed to score a single run to end the CSNI

innings on 208 runs for 7 wickets in their allocated 50 overs. Best of the

Muckamore bowlers were Pavan Karthik who took 2 wickets for 36 runs, Steve

Lazars who took 2 wickets for 40 runs and Neil Gill who took 2 wickets for 47

runs. A change in batting order for Muckamore as David Miller and Karthik

Rajavelu were sent in to open the innings. Miller wasted no time in attacking

the CSNI bowling scoring 27 runs off just 20 deliveries before he edged a

delivery from Foster in wicket keeper Johnston’s gloves in the 8 th over. Jamie

Rodgers was the new batsman and they cautiously took the score to 94 runs into

the 24 th over until Rajavelu was out to a good diving catch by slip fielder Ellison

off a Cowden delivery to end his important 43 run innings. Fahad Iqbal joined

Rodgers and they carefully added another 29 runs in the next 5 overs before the

latter was caught by mid on fielder Ellison after he had scored 30 runs. Now on

123 runs for 3 wickets Aditya Adey was next in and with Iqbal growing in

confidence they advanced the score to 155 runs into the 37 th over until the out of

form Adey was trapped lbw by a Topping delivery after scoring only 8 runs.

Iqbal’s new partner was Sam Gordon and he added most of the runs in the next

four overs before his disappointing companion was bowled by Topping after

scoring only 6 runs. With the score on 177 runs for 5 wickets with just 9 overs

remaining Steve Lazars was in next and they added another 18 runs until Iqbal’s

square leg shot was caught on the boundary by Cowan off a Malan delivery to

bring his patient hard won 50 run innings to an end. With the score now at 195

runs for 6 wickets with just 21 delivers remaining to score the 14 runs needed to

win, Captain Neil Gill was the new batsman and with Lazars they took the score

to 207 runs before he fired an Ellison delivery over the boundary rope to clinch

this 4 wicket victory and hopefully start the Muckamore fight back. Best of the

CSNI bowlers was M Topping who took 3 wickets for 49 runs. This week

Muckamore entertain North Down in their next league match at Moylena.

Muckamore Seconds entertained CSNI Seconds at Moylena on Saturday in a

Junior League game and batting first scored 153 runs. Their top batsmen were

Richard Keates who scored 63 runs, David Rainey who scored 22 runs and

Johnny Gordon who scored 20 runs. Best of the CSNI bowlers were S Ross who

took 3 wickets for 31 runs, R Gondhia who took 2 wickets for 16 runs and J

Wilson who took 2 wickets for 22 runs. In a very tight finish Muckamore

bowled the visitors out for 148 runs to win the game by 5 runs. Their top

batsmen were P Park who scored 60 runs and R Willis who scored 22 runs. Best

of the Muckamore bowlers were Richard Keates who took 3 wickets for 31

runs, Leslie Allen who took 3 wickets for 35 runs, Arnold Oduvelil who took 2

wickets for 22 runs and David Steen who took 2 wickets for 28 runs. This

Sunday the Seconds are at home to CIYMS Seconds in their next league game.

Muckamore Thirds travelled to Eaton Park on Saturday to play Ballymena

Seconds in their next league match and batting first scored 166 runs for the loss

of 6 wickets in their allocated overs. Their top batsmen were David Gill who

scored 63 runs, Pavan Pawar who was not out with 32 runs and Chris Wilson

who was not out with 27 runs. Best of the Ballymena bowlers was S Watt who

took 2 wickets for 22 runs. Ballymena replied to score 168 runs for the loss of

only 2 wickets to win the game by 8 wickets. Their best batsmen were P Gregg

who was not out with 63 runs and S Watt who was not out with 54 runs. Best of

the Muckamore bowlers was S Stephenson who took 2 wickets for 25 runs. This

week the Thirds are at home to CSNI Thirds in their next league match.

Muckamore Fourths had CSNI Fourths at home on Saturday in a league match.

The visitors batted first and were bowled out for 194 runs. Their top scorers

were A Pattnaik with 60 runs, S Prattipatti with 34 runs and M Pollard with 21

runs. Best of the Muckamore bowlers were Manu Mohandas who took 4

wickets for 43 runs and Joby Jose who took 3 wickets for 14 runs. In what was a

very tight game Muckamore replied to pass the CSNI total in the last over with

one wicket to spare to clinch the one wicket victory. Their top batsmen were

Joby Jose who scored 43 runs and Benny George who scored 30 runs. Best of

the CSNI bowlers were M Smyth who took 4 wickets for 22 runs and A Meyer

who took 2 wickets for 42 runs. This Sunday the Fourths are at home to

Instonians Fourths in their next league match.

This Saturday the Fifths travel to Lurgan to play Victoria Seconds in their next

league match and on Sunday the Sixths travel to Belmont to play CIYMS Fifths

for their next league game. The Muckamore Bluebells travel to play Lurgan on

Sunday in their next league match.

The two Muckamore Midweek teams were in action last Tuesday evening as the

competition enters its final month of the season. The A team travelled to play

Carrick and batting first scored 73 runs for 7 wickets in their allocated 20 overs.

Best of the Carrick bowlers were B Crooks who took 2 wickets for 7 runs, J

Boggs who took 2 wickets for 9 runs and A Gardiner who took 2 wickets for 15

runs. The home team replied to score 75 runs for 5 wickets to win the game by 5

wickets. Their top batsmen were A Burton who scored 22 runs and J Burton

who scored 21 runs. Best of the Muckamore bowlers was Nikki Niblock who

took 3 wickets for 6 runs. This week the A team will play Instonians at home on

Tuesday evening and are away to Botanic on Wednesday evening to wind up

their league programme, hoping to notch up their first win of the season. The B

team travelled to Mallusk to play BISC and batting first scored 116 runs for 9

wickets in their allocated 20 overs. Their top batsman was Jimmy George who

was not out with 32 runs. Best of the BISC bowlers was A Hamza who took 5

wickets for 25 runs. In reply BISC were bowled out for 94 runs to give

Muckamore the 22 run victory. Best of the Muckamore bowlers were J George

who took 4 wickets for 24 runs and P Kumar who took 2 wickets for 7 runs.

Sitting joint top of the league the B team’s next match is away to CSNI this

coming Wednesday.